Counting Centers

This page provides examples of math center activities aligned with the Early Childhood Assessment in Mathematics (Board of Education of the City of New York, 2001; State Education Department) continuum for counting. These activities can be used by teachers or parents to support students' progress within a stage, or to promote movement to the next stage, on the continuum. For more information on using these centers in your classroom see the ECAM Centers page.

Stage B: These children are confident counting to ten. They can recite the counting sequence beyond ten, coordinate counting objects with number names to at least ten and can use materials to show a given number less than ten.Next Steps:- Develop proficiency in counting objects by ones beyond twenty.- Count aloud to at least thirty.POSSIBLE ACTIVITIESRoll and Cover (1-20) Counting Cup

Stage D: These children can mentally manipulate the ‘counting by ones’ sequence. They can start the counting sequence at numbers other than one, and count on by ones.Next Steps:- Skip count in various intervals (e.g. twos, fives and tens).- Count backwards by ones from twenty.POSSIBLE ACTIVITIESSkip Counting Paths (Set 1)Counting Collections

Stage F: These children are proficient with counting in various intervals. They can skip count by various numbers, and can count by fives and tens starting at any number. They can count backward by ones from larger numbers.Next Steps:- Count through and across hundreds.- Use many skip counting sequences.- Count fluently forward and backwards by ones, tens, and hundreds in the hundreds, starting at any number.POSSIBLE ACTIVITIES:Counting Collections: Revisit Counting Collectionsver. 2 (encourage students to group objects in collection by 3's, 4's, 6's, 7's, 8's, 9's to further develop skip counting by various numbers)